Folding chassis for aircraft



E. N FALES FOLDING CHASSIS FOR AIRCRAFT March 4 192%,

2 Sheets-Shea 1 Filed March 9, 1922 March 4 1924, 1,485,775;

E. N. FALES FOLDING CHASSIS FOR AIRCRAFT Filed March 9. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 8 mventm lihatented l flar, 4,

ELISHA N. FALES,

or Joncrron, OHZQ.

FOLDING CHASSIS FOR Application filed March 9, 1922. Serial life.

To aZZ whom it m g conc'ern:

Be it known t at l, ELISHA N. FALns, a

. citizen of the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State 5 of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Folding Chassis for Aircraft, ofwhich the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to aircraft and parv ticularly to the landing gear or chassis, the object of the invention being to-produce a practicable, reliable and eflicient retractable or foldable chassis which is light in construction, and offers a minimum amount of head resistance, both in its useful position and in its retracted or' folded position, combined with means operable manually by the aviator whereby the chassis may be easily and quickly shifted to either of its two positions.

0 A further object of the invention is to provide a chassis2 or landing gear of .the class referred to .inwhich the usual low down axle which extends between the wheels is entirely eliminated, therebyavoiding the danger of the machine nosing over while making its initial run preparatory to taking I off or when landing and rolling while decreasing its speed preparatory to a complete sto if further object of the, invention is to provide a landing gear of the type referred to in which the usual wires or stays are eliminated and the head resistance incident to the use of such wires or stays.

With the above andother objects in view,

- the invention consists in the novel construe tion, combination and arrangement herein,

fully described, illustrated and claimed. In the accompanying drawings 40 -Figure 1 is a front elevation ofi the 'im-- proved chassis shown in its applied relation. to the fuselage and wings of an airplane, said fuselage and wings being broken-away in section for better illustration.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary de' tail section showing the connection between "the upper end portion of one of the struts and the fuselage.

Figure 3 is a similar view showing modified means for locking the sliding connection between the strut and fuselage.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a slightly modified form of chassis.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary elevation showing one form of means for locking and unlocking the sliding connection of the strut under the arrangement illustrated in Figure 4:. I Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the fuselage of an airplane and 2 the wings, shown extending in opposite directions from the fuselage and arranged at opposite sides thereof. Y 1

In carrying out the present invention, each of the wings is formed in the under side thereof with a pocket 3 of suitable size and shape to receive one of the wheels 4 of the landing gear or chassis. It is desirable that the pocketbe of such size as to entirely house in the respective wheel of the W chassis so that said wheel when in its folded position will cause no head resistance whatever while the machine is in flight. Where the wing is of insufficient thickness in crosssection, fairing 5 may be added to the wing for the purpose "of increasing the thickness thereof to completely cover and shield or house in the wheel l, as illustrated in the drawings, and-said fairing 5 may be extended as shown, at 6 to also house in and shield $0 the supporting legs and'struts of the chassis.

In conjunction with each'of the wheels 4 of the chassis, lf employ aleg 7 which is usually of V-forrnation, or inother words comprising fore-and-aft' menibers'which di- 85..

verge from'the wheel "upwardly toward the fuselage 1. The leg 7 inclines from the wheel upwardly and inwardly and is connected to the fuselage by means of a pivot or hinge pin 8 extending. in a fore-and-aft di- W rection, whereby the leg is adaptedto be swung laterally on a normally horizontal axis. The lower end of the leg terminates in a wheel spindle 9', upon which the adjacent wheel 4 is ordinarily gonrnaled.

in connection. each of the legs 7 further employ a bracing strut .10 which diverges from the wheel 4 upwardly toward the chassis. Under the arrangement shown in Figure 1, the upper endof the strut 10 is connected by apivot 11 to a sleeve or loose collar,12 surrounding a tubular extension or sleeve 13 projecting laterally from a g .tr wheel 14, the latter being internally threaded and engaging a non-rotary threaded rod on shaft 15. The opposite extremities of the rod 15 are supported by brackets fuselage.

16 secured by fastening means 17 to the Located above and meshing with the gear wheels 14 for, the oppositely extending braces 10 of the two wheels 4, is.a barrelpinion 18, the opposite extremities ofwhich are journaled inv bearings 19 on the under side of the fuselage. On one end of the barrel pinion 18is a sprocket wheel 20. Around.

the sprocket wheel 20 passes achain 21 ex- .tending upwardly over another sprocket wheel .22 operated by a crank-handle 23, shown as arranged inside of the fuselage within convenient reach of the aviator, whoby turning the crank in the proper direction causes the wheels 4 and the legs 7 and struts 10 to either swing upwardly to the housed I or folded position, or downwardly to the useful position. It will be understood that as the pinion 18 is rotated, it imparts rotary motion to the gears 14, and byreason of the rod 15 having right and left hand threads at opposite sides of the center thereof, said gears 14 will be caused to move either toward each other or away from each other.-

In moving toward each other, the upper ends of the struts 10 are forced toward the respective legs 7 which theybrace, and by .reason of the struts 10 being connected to a the lower ends of. the legs 7 by pivots 24, the,

legs 7 are caused to swing outwardly and upwardlyuntil the wheels 4 are housed within the pockets in the wings and the legs 7 and struts 10 housed within the fairing extensions 6. By reversing the direction of rotation of the pinion 18, the operation just referred to is reversed and the parts of the chassis are restoredto their supporting positions. If desired, auxiliary means, such as springs 25 interposed between the legs 7 and the fuselage 1, may

I be used to assist in the upward swinging movement of the members of the chassis.

In lieu of the operating means hereinabove described, theopposite portions of the folding chassis may be raised by means of cables 26 leading around suitable guide pulleys into the fuselage, where they may be wlngs having pockets is shown in Figure meagre between the upper end ofthe strut 10 and the fuselage as shown in Figure 1, said slid ing connection may be placed between the strut 10 and the adjacent leg 7, as shown in a Figure 4. 1 For that purpose the lower end of each strut-'10 is connected by means of a pivot 29 to a slide collar-30, movable along the leg 7, and inthis case'the sliding connec tion between the strut and theleg may be locked by any suitable ample as toggle links 31 and 32 pivotally connected together at 33, the link 32 being connects by a pivot to the slide collar 30 and the other link 31 being connected by a pivot 34 to the leg ,7. A. cable 35 is connected to the pivot'33 and extends upwardl over suitable guide pulleys 36 to a drum 3 in the fuselage. This enables the aviator to raise and lower the fuselage members in order to accomplish the same resultshereinabove set forth in connection with Figure 1. The main point of diiference between Figure of each strut; while in Figure 4 the sliding connection is shown at the lower end of each means, such for ex- 1. and Figure 4 resides in the location ofthe Mil strut. In both cases, by reason of such sliding connection, both the strut and leg are caused to swing upwardly and downwardly and also laterally with respect to the fore and aft axis of the fuselage.

What is claimed is:

1. An aircraft embodying a fuselage, and I wings having pockets therein,-in combina v tion with a folding chassis comprising wheels, legs extending from the'wheels to the fuselage and pivoted tothe latter to swing laterally, struts having a jointed con nectionv with the legs and fuselage and having a slidable connection means for locking and able connection.

- 2. An aircraft embodying a fuselage, and

at one end, and :1

nection with the legs and fuselage and hav ing a slidable connection at one end, manually-operable means for swinging the legs ets in the wings or move them to their supporting posltions, and meansfor locking and releasing said slidable connection.

releasing said slid- 1 therein, in combina f and struts to house the Wheels in said pock gee Y 3. An aircraft embodying a fuselage, and wings having pockets therein, in combination with a folding chassis comprising wheels, legs extending from the wheels to the fuse- 5 lage and pivoted to the latter to swing laterally, struts having a jointed connection with the legs and fuselage and having a slidable connection at one end, manuallyoperable means for swinging the legs and struts to house the wheels in said pockets in' the wings or move them to their supporting positions, and means for locking and releasing said slidable connection, the wings having fairings which streamline in said legs and struts when the wheels are housed in their pockets in the wings.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

ELISHA N. FALES. 

